Directed by Vega Montanez, 'The Hurt We Share' is a 2021 thriller that stars Bryce Jones, Francis Mancho and Kimberly Edwards.
The Hurt We Share sees Terrence (played by Bryce Jones), a man falling into depression slowly. As he feels his world falling apart, Terrence's life begins to spiral out of control. Not only this but serious mental issues also begin to emerge, charting the man on a collision course that will have no happy endings. How does Terrence remedy his situation and will he be able to save himself and those he loves?
The Hurt We Share's first and foremost strong point is its direction and script; and Vega Montanez manages to tackle both effectively. The script is deep; it aids its characters in developing organically as it seeks to present a viable solution to the moral dilemma that it offers. Montanez then builds up the script during his direction, punching up some moments while adding more character depth. All this contributes to a film that manages to be surprisingly emotional and hard hitting.
Visually speaking, the film bursts out of its own shell. The cinematography is crisp and the teal blue filter over everything gives the film a distinctly unique look. The cinematographer has done a fantastic job ensuring that the tense moments look and feel as real as possible and those tense, unnerving moments of interaction between characters look as energised and unpredictable as possible. Not only does this help keep the film apart from dozens of similar films in the market, it also makes for an exciting and novel viewing.
Another aspect that is frequently overlooked by reviewers is the sound design. The sound mixing team has done a terrific job here, invoking a true sense of dread in all of the tense scenes and ensuring a consistent theme of fear and confusion as seen by the protagonist throughout the story. The sound design of a thriller has a significant part in ensuring that the story feels true to its roots and the team here has done really well in this regard.
The acting by the main cast is good and everyone does a well enough job. Bryce Jones settles well into his role as the lead Terrence. Bringing a towering persona, Jones manages to document his character's descent into madness pretty accurately. Chi Mancho as Benny is also impressive and Kimberly Edwards as Susan also manages to knock it out of the park. The cast does a terrific job with what they are given and they manage to elevate the script by infusing their characters with as much pzazz as possible.
Also, from costumes to set design, the production looks highly polished in all its aspects. With a seemingly mid-sized budget, it is fascinating to see how the production team managed to make the film look so incredibly good..
Full of twists, turns and a dark, foreboding sense of violence, The Hurt We Share manages to soar despite its disturbing subject matter. Thrillers are always hard to pull off from a thematic and emotional standpoint but the film here manages to make the audience root for the protagonist as we go down the rabbit hole. Although it doesn't break the genre mould, The Hurt We Share is good enough to stand on its own two feet. Well shot and well acted, the film is director Vega Montanez's first and provides him with some serious cred on his resume for his next project. We hope to see much more of Montanez in the future and pray that he gets his hands on a major Hollywood production a lot sooner than later.
